Dressings and bandages



Dec. 7, 1965 F. HEITZMANN 3,221,735

DRESSINGS AND BANDAGES Original Filed Nov. 24. 1959 United States Patent Ofiice 3,221,736 Patented Dec. 7, 1965 3,221,736 DRESSINGS AND BANDAGES Friedrich Heitzmann, Wimbergergasse 29, Vienna, Austria Continuation of application Ser. No. 162,633, Dec. 19, 1961, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 855,050, Nov. 24, 1959. This application Apr. 22, 1964, Ser. No. 363,664 Claims priority, application Austria, Nov. 24, 1958, A 8,147/58 5 Claims. (Cl. 128156) The present invention relates to bandages and dressings, particularly to gauze bandages, and to improvements thereof.

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 162,633 filed December 19, 1961, and now abandoned, itself a continuation of earlier application Serial No. 855,050, filed November 24, 1959 and now abandoned.

Known gauze bandages have the shortcoming that they slip easily and have a short life. The bandage often slips out of place on the body of a wounded person during transport; this is particularly true when the bandage has to be loosely applied in order not to interfere with breathing or blood circulation in certain parts of the body. Another reason for loose application is the possible swelling of the body which would cause the bandage to cut into the skin.

On the other hand, the slipping of the bandage out of place is liable to cause bleeding or even death through excessive loss of blood. If blood circulation is hampered, that too may prove harmful to the Wounded person.

What has been said above about gauze bandages applies, of course, to other types of bandages, as well.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings of known bandages for surgical dressings and the like and to provide a gauze bandage which will not slip out of place when the patient is moved.

It is another object of the invention to provide a gauze bandage which will not cut into the skin after the dressing has been applied. It is a further object of the invention to provide a bandage which has a certain amount of stretch but will not exert undue compression on the part of the body of the injured person which is covered by the bandage.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a gauze bandage which will wear for a longer time and which can be washed a number of times without losing its shape or elasticity.

Further advantages and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed specification.

The invention solves the problem of avoiding the abovementioned shortcomings in a simple manner. It is based on the principle of making the bandages resilient, whereby a better adhesion to the body is achieved without undue compression on the part of the body, to which the bandage is applied, and without its edges cutting into the skin.

According to the invention, the desired improvements are brought about by using for the forming of the foundation Warp a synthetic yarn which has imparted to the threads thereof a crimped or curled texture by methods known per se in the art. These threads will be called crinkled threads hereinafter. They have as compared to uncrinkled or straight threads, an unusual elasticity.

As stated above, the foundation warp consists of or contains crinkled threads, whereas the weft threads are uncrinkled threads. The warp threads consist of synthetic fibers, preferably polyamide, the weft threads of cellulose or cotton. The weft threads are interwoven with the warp threads by gauze weave of leno construction; between the outermost gauze woven selvedge threads of the warp and the next and innermost gauze woven selvedge threads of the warp there are, moreover, several selvedge warp threads of the same kind provided, which are however woven in plain weave. It is particularly due to this selvedge formation that the sliding of the several layers of the bandage is prevented, even in case when one edge of the bandage is stretched more than the other one, a fact which hitherto always caused a strong tendency to slipping.

The bandages according to the invention should not be confused with the known elastic bandages. They are distinguished from the latter by their purpose and by their texture. A dressing of the type considered in this application serves for covering a Wound, whereas an elastic bandage is supposed to support some part of the body. For that purpose it needs a certain strength so that the elastic bandages will be capable after having been stretched, to exert a strong pressure or traction. This is quate different from the bandage used as a dressing, which must not exert more than a slight pressure on the wound.

It is known to use crinkled yarns consisting of a synthetic fiber for making the warp of an elastic bandage. Moreover, it is known to add rubber threads as warp threads in order to increase the force of stretch. For gauze bandages to be used for the dressing of wounds, the use of crinkled threads and the interlacing by gauze weave of leno construction is entirely novel.

In the following the invention will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates an embodiment of the invention. However, it should be understood that this is only given by way of illustration and not by Way of limitation, and that many changes may be made in the details without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring now to the sole figure of the drawing, the gauze bandage according to the invention is shown to comprise threads 1-6 which consist of crinkled yarn forming a ground warp, and weft threads 7 of a larger diameter than that of the warp threads, the warp threads 1-6 and the weft threads 7 being woven together by guaze weave of leno construction. The straight warp threads are indicated at 1, 3, 5 and the twisted threads at 2, 4 and 6. The warp threads 1, 3, 5 have a uniform spacing over the entire width of the bandage. Between the outermost selvedge warp threads 1, 2 and the neighboring, innermost selvedge warp threads 3, 4, there are, in the present example, four additional selvedge threads 811, which are woven into the bandage in plain or linen weave. By means of the leno gauze weave, particularly of the selvedge threads 1 and 2 with the Weft threads 7, it is brought about that the Weft threads 7 are held fast and, upon return of the shuttle, are not pulled out or tensioned. In this manner, there will not be any sharp bends at the points where the weft threads 7 reverse, so that the edge remains extensible. This prevents the bandage from cutting into the skin when used.

The weft threads 7 which are interwoven in plain weave with the warp threads 8-11 provide a good ahesion of superimposed layers of the bandage so that the slipping of these layers is prevented. This texture also makes the bandage keep its shape.

The density of the threads is so chosen that it will correspond in the stretched state of the bandage to the number of threads which is customary in gauze bandages. The number of threads per centimeter in warp and weft will be less than 10, when both the straight and the twisted threads are counted as warp thread-s.

As warp threads, it is advantageous to use double threads of crinkled yarn with 30 to 100 denier having an S or Z twist; these threads preferably consist of polyamide. For the straight and the twisted threads of the ground warp, the above is the material used. The fillers or wadding threads at the selvedge may also consist of the same yarn.

As weft threads, cellulose or cotton yarns are used. For increasing the stifiness of the threads, it is advantageous to use multiple yarns, hard twisted yarns, or sized yarns. Very well suited is, for instance, a four-fold thread of cotton No. 50/4. Monofilar yarns should have a lower number than 36 (of the British numbering system). The yarn number 8 of this numbering is very satisfactory. The weft threads must have a certain thickness so that they act as spacing members for the warp threads, as already known in elastic bandages where it is conventional to use strong monofilar threads.

The stretch of the bandage depends on the purpose for which it is used. The strength of the bandage in stretched state must not be very great. It was found that very good dressings can be made when the force which is necessary to stretch the bandage by about is about 0.5 to 1 gram per each centimeter of bandage width. In order to be useful as a dressing, this force may vary between 0.2 and 3 grams per centimeter.

As compared to this, the force which is used in the lightest elastic bandage on the market is about 6 grams per centimeter for an elongation of about 10%. Other bandages which can still be called elastic bandages, need for an extension of 10%, grams per centimeter. When the bandages are made with rubber threads, they will yield a much higher force of traction.

The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For instance, warp threads, though consisting of the same yarn, may be distributed in a non-uniform manner over the width of the bandage. Also, the materials of which the warp threads consist may be different from the ones described, e.g. other synthetics than polyamides may be used. It is surprising that the bandage according to the invention can be made just as inexpensive as a common, non-stretch, gauze bandage, while having all the above-mentioned superior properties and a much longer life.

What is claimed:

1. A bandage for dressing wounds, comprising a ground warp consisting of crinkled yarn, a weft consisting of uncrinkled yarn of larger diameter than that of the warp yarn for maintaining spacing for the warp yarn when interweaving the warp yarn with the weft yarn, said ground warp including pairs of straight and twisted warp threads, the straight thread of each pair overlying said weft along the entire length of each straight thread, and each straight thread being situated in its entirety on one side of said weft, the twisted thread of each pair being interwoven with its respective associated straight thread and crossing the weft at the side thereof opposite from said one side, each pair of warp threads being laterally spaced from the next adjacent pair at regular intervals across the bandage in a gauze weave, and a plurality of further straight warp threads interwoven with said weft yarn in a plain weave intermediate the two outermost pairs of straight and twisted selvedge ground warp threads, said weft comprising pairs of subsequent yarns looped around the peripheral one of said selvedge ground warp thread pairs, the yarns of each weft pair crossing all of said warp threads in adjacent relationship and spaced apart from the yarns of adjoining weft pairs.

2. A bandage according to claim 1, which in its stretched state has the usual number of threads per centimeter both in the warp and the weft as is customary for conventional gauze bandages.

3. A bandage according to claim 2, wherein said weft yarn consists of a multiple-fiber yarn.

4. A bandage according to claim 2, wherein said weft yarn has a strong twist.

5. A bandage according to claim 2, wherein said weft yarn consists of a sized yarn.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,640,508 6/1953 Siciliano 139-419 2,677,872 5/1954 Teague 139421 2,788,026 4/1957 Moore 13942l 2,810,184 10/1957 Sherman 13942l 2,902,038 9/1959 Bletzinger et al. 128290 RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner, 

1. A BANDAGE FOR DRESSING WOUNDS, COMPRISING A GROUND WARP CONSISTING OF CRINKLED YARN, A WEFT CONSISTING OF UNCRINKLED YARN OF LARGER DIAMETER THAN THAT OF THE WARP YARN FOR MAINTAINING SPACING FOR THE WARP YARN WHEN INTERWEAVING THE WARP YARN WITH THE WEFT YARN, SAID GROUND WARP INCLUDING PAIRS OF STRAIGHT AND TWISTED WARP THREADS, THE STRAIGHT THREADS OF EACH PAIR OVERLYING SAID WEFT ALONG THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF EACH STRAIGHT THREAD, AND EACH STRAIGHT THREAD BEING SITUATED IN ITS ENTIRETY ON ONE SIDE OF SAID WEFT, THE TWISTED THREAD OF EACH PAIR BEING INTERWOVEN WITH ITS RESPECTIVE ASSOCIATED STRAIGHT THREAD AND CROSSING THE WEFT AT THE SIDE THEREOF OPPOSITE FROM SAID ONE SIDE, EACH PAIR OF WARP THREADS BEING LATERALLY SPACED FROM THE NEXT ADJACENT PAIR AT REGULAR INTERVALS ACROSS THE BANDAGE IN A GAUZE WAVE, AND A PLURALITY OF FURTHER STRAIGHT WARP THREADS INTERWOVEN WITH SAID WEFT YARN IN A PLAIN WEAVE INTERMEDIATE THE TTWO OUTERMOST PAIRS OF STRAIGHT AND TWISTED SELVEDGE GROUND ARP THREADS, SAID WEFT COMPRISING PAIRS OF SUBSEQUENT YARNS LOOPED AROUND THE PERIPHERAL ONE OF SAID SELVEDGE GROUND WARP THREAD PAIRS, THE YARNS OF EACH WEFT PAIRS CROSSING ALL OF SAID WARP THREADS IN ADJACENT RELATIONSHIP AND SPACED APART FROM THE YARNS OF ADJOINING WEFT PAIRS. 